Embodiments of the present invention relate to a clip mounting seat of an interior component or an exterior component. For example, a clip is attached to the clip mounting seat to mount the interior or exterior component to a vehicle body panel.
There has been known a clip for mounting an automotive interior component (such as a door trim or an instrument panel) to a vehicle body panel. The interior component has a clip mounting seat on an inner surface thereof. A neck portion of the clip is attached to the clip mounting seat. The neck portion is passed through a guide groove of the interior component before being inserted into an attachment hole of the clip mounting seat. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-81881 discloses a clip mounting seat 202 shown in FIG. 27. The clip mounting seat 202 has a pair of tongues 228.
The tongues 228 protrude toward an attachment hole 224 from both edges 226a of a guide groove 226. When the clip 203 moves in a detaching direction from an attachment hole 224, the pair of tongues 228 acts on a neck portion 234c of the clip 203 to provide resistance. As a result, it is possible to suppress inadvertent detachment of the clip 203 from the clip mounting seat 202. It is possible to suppress detachment of an interior component (not shown) due to vibration during traveling of the automobile. When the clip 203 is inserted into the attachment hole 224, the pair of tongues 228 do not act as resistance on the neck portion 234c of the clip 203. Thus, the clip 203 can be easily attached to the clip mounting seat 202.
When the requisite force for detaching the clip 203 from the clip mounting seat 202 (the retaining force) is large, it is difficult to detach the clip 203 from the clip mounting seat 202. When, however, the retaining force is increased, the requisite force for attaching the clip 203 to the clip mounting seat 202 increases.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a clip mounting seat to which the clip can be easily attached and from which the clip is not easily detached.